//------------------------------// // Part 2 (chapters 5-9) // Story: Techorse // by Spirals95 //------------------------------// Techorse By Spirals95 Chapter 5 Twilight looked at the hole in the ground where Techman once stood. Tears came to her eyes as she said, “He was for our side all along, and now he’s gone.” As she stared at the scorched pit, a hoof rose slowly out of the crater. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as a male pony stepped out of the hole. The earth pony had a pleasing green coat color, had a brown, normal cut mane for colts of his age, a same colored jagged end cut tail, and had blue eyes. On his flank was a cutie mark in the shape of 3 yellow “v” marks packed close together. Twilight asked with a surprised tone, “You’re alive?” The pony replied, “Yes, it looks like you saved my life. You used your magic to weaken Wizard’s blast just enough so that I was turned into one of your people instead of being turned into a fine powder.” He then looked at the ground and apologized, “I’m sorry I tried to capture you.” Twilight stopped up her tears and accepted his apology, “It’s ok. Now that you’re still here though, can you tell me your name?” The pony replied, “I’m Techman.” Looking at his new body, he said,”I guess now I’m more of a Techorse. That’s what you can call me, Techorse.” Twilight laughed and said, “Well, Techorse, you’re actually a pony, not a true horse, but I think that’s a great name for a military leader like you.” Techorse admitted shamefully, “I’m actually not a leader. Heck, I’m not even in the military. Wizard called me ‘private’ because he treated me like his little soldier, just someone that he could order around. I’ll tell you the full story later. But enough about me, what’s your name?” She replied, “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” He said to her, “I like that name.” “Thanks.” she replied, appreciating the compliment. “I’m thinking that because you came after me, you must be the leader of the ponies here in the town.” said Techorse. Twilight shook her head and said, “Not exactly. But I do report to the real leader of this land, princess Celestia, whenever I learn something about friendship or life. I used to be anti-social like you, but I’ve learned to make friends.” Techorse thought about protesting to the comment, but he knew he deserved to at least be called anti-social after the way he had treated Ponyville’s residents. Twilight Sparkle’s friends had arrived on the scene. “And here they are now.” “Oh hey.”, Rainbow Dash said as she looked at Techorse, “You rescued one of ours from the alien!” Applejack peered at the burned spot on the ground and said, “And judgin’ by that hole, you roasted the alien with one of your spells! Good work darlin.” Twilight Sparkle pointed to the colt beside her and admitted, “Actually, this pony right here is the alien.” Rarity asked in shock, “What? How could this be? Wasn’t he a um.. ugly human 5 minutes ago?” Techorse lowered his head and looked at Rarity funny. Twilight nudged him and said, “Well, maybe you can explain this better, Techorse.” Techorse looked up and told them, “I was going to tell this story later, but I might as well do it now. I was a human being, one of 8 who are trying to sell your people to our home planet. We planned on using teleporter beams to teleport you into a holding place beyond the mountain range behind me. Those robots you saw were not made by me, and are not under my control. They are being made in a factory containing the jail cells where your fellow ponies are being held.” Rainbow Dash angrily shouted, “Jail us and then sell us? What do you think we are, chopped oats? I’ll get you!” Rainbow Dash tried to attack Techorse, but Fluttershy and Applejack restrained her. “Let him finish”, said Rarity. Techorse continued, “Thank you. As I was saying, I could care less about making money off of you guys myself. However, there are 7 other humans who don’t feel the same. We all came here on a giant metal platform called a space station, which now orbits your planet. Leading this expedition is my old master, who plainly calls himself Wizard. He is the most powerful magic user to ever live. He used his magic to search the universe for a planet filled with creatures he could extort. Wizard then used his powers to move the space station across the vast distance between our planets in the blink of an eye. Now he and 6 other humans are on this planet, trying to capture as many of you as possible to teleport back home for money.” “But why did you come here with Wizard if you knew you'd have to enslave us?” asked Rarity, interrupting the story. Techorse paused for a moment, and then continued his story, “I didn't get a choice. When I was small, I lived on Earth with my mom and dad and siblings. I was the first born child of my family. But my father owed a debt to Wizard he could not pay. In anger, Wizard wiped my parent’s memory that I ever existed, and then took me away. He started calling me private because he wanted to treat me like a little trooper he could order around. At first, he wanted me to learn magic like him. But I had no interest in the power that took my family from me, and instead I read books and became smart in science. I have many inventions back in my castle, and I like to conduct research and build things. But Wizard only hated me more for getting knowledge. So, Wizard took me with him when he teleported across the universe. He would look for planets with intelligent life he could control. Finally, he found yours, and he took several years to prepare for the invasion. Not wanting to go alone, he offered to the 5 most skilled men on Earth the chance to make tons of money. After the years of planning, we came here on the space station. Wizard threatened that if I did not act loyally on this mission he would destroy me. To test my loyalty, he sent down 6 robots to attack your town, and watched to see if I would stop them or not. I didn’t, and I’m sorry I didn’t. Eventually, Twilight here followed me outside of my castle, and I decided to rebel against Wizard. He tried to destroy me, but your friend’s magic changed his destructive blast into a polymorph beam. Now I’m a pony just like all of you.” Fluttershy took pity on the slave and said, “That’s so sad.” Rainbow Dash accepted the story a bit caustically, “Well, all right. You’re on our side. But that still doesn’t explain where the robots came from.” Techorse replied, “I told you, the robots were built by the factory owner, Bossman. Wizard teleported them here to see if I would have any mercy on you.” Twilight added, “And you did. You are not a bad being at heart.” He said, “Maybe I’m not bad, but I'm certainly not normal. I’ve never had any friends. I must seem strange to you, even though I’m a pony now.” Rainbow Dash said to him, “You got that right, you’re a real weird…” Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a nasty look that caused the pegasus to fold her wings and lower her head in shame. Applejack turned back to Techorse and said, “I’m sure you are tryin’ to do what’s right. You’re not such a big bad scary alien after all.” Twilight addressed all her friends, “I’m glad you all think Techorse here is really a nice guy. Introduce yourself girls.” Rarity pointed a hoof at herself and said, “How rude of me. I am Rarity, the fashion designer of Ponyville.” She gave a cough as Applejack shoved forward and said, “I’m Applejack. I’m just an apple farmer from out in the country. Nice to meet ya.” Rainbow Dash said with a bragging tone, “I’m Rainbow Dash, the best athlete in Equestria, and the fastest Pegasus too.” Then Techorse turned to Fluttershy, who was standing the furthest from him, and asked, “What’s your name?” “Fluttershy” Techorse continued, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that.” “Fluttershy.” Came her mumbled response. She was a little scared about talking to the alien. Techorse said, “Look miss, I’m sorry, but you’re mumbling. Please speak up.” “My name is Fluttershy. I take care of all the animals around here.” Fluttershy finally answered in a good tone. “Sorry. That was a little loud.” she said bowing her head. Techorse said, “It’s ok, but you sure do live up to your name.” “Hey, wait a minute.” asked Twilight, “where’s Pinkie Pie?” In answer, the pink pony bounded around the corner of the castle with a jar of bugs in her mouth. She dropped the jar on the ground in front of her companions and said, “I got the jar of termites to eat the door, but you guys weren’t there so I decided to walk around and...” Techorse looked at the pony and recognized her, “Wait a minute! I saw you earlier!” Pinkie Pie started circling around Techorse and shouted, “Oh hey! I don’t remember seeing you when did you see me? Was I making cupcakes or throwing a party because I love making cupcakes and throwing parties! You’re really cute looking did you know that? If you’re new in town, we should celebrate with a party at my place!” Techorse put a hoof over Pinkie Pie’s mouth and said, “No, No. I’m the human you saw earlier. Twilight Sparkle can explain why I’m a pony now. Also, I’m sorry I refused your party invitation earlier. I was too sad about those robots wrecking your town.” Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened. “Woah”, she said as the information sunk into. Techorse then said with shock, “Oh shoot! The robots! We’ve got to stop them before they teleport any more ponies to Bossman’s factories! Are all six still left?” “Nope”, said Applejack straightening out her neck, “Me and my brother Big Macintosh crushed one of them in our log trap.” Rainbow Dash added, “Make that four. I saw one of them drive off the roof of a building chasing a Pegasus pony like me. The stupid thing broke into pieces when it hit the road.” Twilight Sparkle said, “If we work quickly, we can destroy the robots without losing any more ponies.” Techorse reminded, “Don’t worry. We are not shipping out any ponies to Earth until the end of the month. Anyone teleported out can be rescued from the factory.” He then continued, “Let’s go get some ‘supplies’ from my castle. I think they’ll be pretty effective against the robots.” The seven walked back into the castle from the back door. As soon as they stepped in, PAL transferred his program into a humanoid robot chassis and grabbed a teleporter rifle. He stopped the group dead in their tracks. PAL shouted, “Halt! Give up now intruders!” Techorse smiled and said, “PAL, I know you are never going to believe this, but it’s me. Wizard turned me into a pony when I didn’t follow his orders.” PAL dropped the gun and said, “Ohhhh. Is this true?” Twilight Sparkle confirmed, “Yes, it’s true PAL. Your master is a pony now.” PAL scratched his android head and said to her, “I recognize my master’s voice anywhere, so I know you're telling the truth. It's just a little confusing, that's all. I’m going to plug back into the castle computer and take a break to think about this.” “Ok.” said Techorse. Rarity said to him, “I could really use a friendly, well behaved robot like PAL to help me with my dress shop. Is there any chance a girl like me could get a hold of one?” Techorse laughed and replied, “Maybe, but PAL’s not for sale. I’ll make you a robot later more suitable for making suits. Right now though, we need to focus on stopping the bad robots.” Techorse led the other ponies down into his laboratory. As they entered the room full of odd machinery, he said to them, “Welcome to my lab, ladies. This is where my mining probes bring metals from your mountains so that I can use it to invent machinery.” Fluttershy bumped into something cold and shrieked loudly. She ducked underneath a table to hide from the threat. “Oh”, said Techorse, “Fluttershy just bumped into a toaster designed to make entire loaves of toast at once. Not my most complicated invention.” Pinkie Pie was a little hungry from her recent running, so she took a piece of toast from the top of the machine and swallowed it whole. “Not bad”, she said smacking her lips, “But it needs more frosting and sprinkles.” Twilight looked at the widgets and marveled, “So many neat inventions you’ve made.” Rainbow Dash nudged her and teased, “Are you jealous that he’s smarter than you are?” Twilight was rather irked by the comment and replied, “No Rainbow Dash, I am not jealous.” Techorse told her, “You have no reason to be. I just know plain hard science. You know magic really well, something I won’t touch.” Twilight was normally too mature to stick her tongue out at Rainbow Dash, but felt like doing it anyway. Techorse then announced, “Now to test out my latest creation. On myself!” Fluttershy said shakily, “Oh dear, are… are you a… mad scientist?” It was obvious that she was a little afraid of invention. Techorse laughed evilly and said, “I prefer the term disgruntled researcher.” When he saw Fluttershy shrink back, he said gently to her “Just kidding Fluttershy, my inventions are designed to be helpful, not defy nature.” “Says the fellow turned into a pony.” whispered Rarity to Applejack. He then disappeared around a corner in the lab for a moment. “Here it is”, chimed Techorse. There was a clicking noise as he strapped the invention to himself, and then he stepped out from around the corner. He was now wearing a gray and red saddle that was not too small or too large for his size, covering about one half his back. It was held onto his body by two black straps, one towards the front of the device and one towards the back. “This...”, he said, “is the Battle Saddle.” “Wait a second.” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “Why would you need a saddle if you weren't a pony to start with?” The colt answered her, “I originally thought I was going to get a pony to help me in my laboratory. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't going to brainwash the poor guy and make him work for me, I was going to hire the guy and let him use this to make his job easier. But now that I'm a pony, I can use the saddle's three tools myself.” Two slots opened on the sides of the saddle, and two metal disks with fans in the middle emerged. Techorse said, “These are turbofans, engines which allow for high altitude flight!” The helicopter blades spun and lifted Techorse into the air for a bit. Then, after landing again, the fans disappeared back into the saddle. The slots opened up a second time, and a pair of thin robotic arms came out, each tipped with a hand-like manipulator. Techorse continued to explain, “These two robotic arms are equipped with human hand motors on the end. With them, I can pick things up without using my teeth.” Techorse made the hands pick up a tray of tools and set it down on another table. He then retracted the arms back into the slots on the saddle. After that, two metal tubes emerged from the sides of the saddle. Techorse then smirked and said, “And finally, my personal favorite, twin laser cannons for self defense.” He looked at a glass beaker sitting on the table in front of him. The cannons each emitted a yellow laser bolt in sequence, and the projectiles struck and shattered the glass beaker. Rainbow Dash squealed, “That thing’s AWESOME! It will go right through those robots!” Twilight turned to face the group and said, “Well girls, and Techorse, we’re probably ready to go show those robots that they can’t just wreck Ponyville without consequences.” Pinkie Pie added in, “Then we can teach you how to make not so lame pre-battle sentences!” Everyone laughed as they headed for the front door of the castle. Chapter 6 Unit 1 was still looking for fresh ponies to teleport. He was getting an itchy trigger motor, and wanted desperately to use his beam. Unit 5 radioed for him and transmitted, “Unit 1, this is Unit 5. Units 4 and 6 are destroyed. Sensors indicate ponies, but they are hiding too well to be found even with heat scanners. Our total count is 22 ponies captured.” Unit 1 transmitted back to Unit 5, “Unit 5, continue hunt with Unit 3. Unit 2 and I are still looking in the downtown area for the life forms. Unit 5? Respond?” Unit 5 radioed back, “Unit 1, my treads have been destroyed. I am immobile. I ran into what looks like a cake filled with concrete. I am returning fire at the party responsible, but they are scoring hits on me with stones and what appears to be laser bolts. My armor is being disintegrated. Unit 3 is fleeing the area, but I am going to be destroyed. Do not let my destruction end the mission. It is imperative that you…” the other robot’s transmission died in a crackle of static. Unit 1 calculated how long it would take Unit 5’s program to reach the factory and concluded it would be impossible to radio for his program for more information. It and Unit 2 were stuck without eyes unless Unit 3 reported back in. The seven ponies stood over the destroyed robot. Pinkie Pie had filled a cake with a fast dry concrete mix Techorse had made back in his lab. When the robot ran over the cake, it had gotten stuck. Rarity quickly ran up with a diamond and cut off the robot’s teleporter cannon. The other 5 ponies then pelted it with rocks, apples, hail from a cloud, and lasers from Techorse’s cannons until the robot exploded from too much damage. Rainbow Dash cheered and said, “Alright! One down, three to go!” Twilight Sparkle scolded, “Rainbow Dash, you almost got hit by that robot’s cannon. You would have been gone.” She replied, “C’mon Twilight, I’m being as careful as I can be.” Applejack said to the arguing ponies, “Knock it off you two and look, the other one’s getting away!” Techorse assured her, “No it’s not!” he switched from his lasers to his turbofans and flew away after the machine. Twilight said quickly, “Rainbow and Fluttershy, follow him and help him out. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, follow me so we can find the other two robots.” Everypony nodded and took off in various directions. Techorse was gaining on Unit 3, maneuvering around to avoid hitting the colonial looking homes and stores of Ponyville. He thought to himself, “Now, how am I going to get the drop on this robot?” Techorse noticed up ahead a large heavy sign on top of a store, ”I know, I’ll drop something on him!” He then noticed a rainbow colored streak whisk by him and overtake the robot. Unit 3 raised its laser and began taking shots at Rainbow Dash. Techorse called out, “No Rainbow Dash, you’ll be captured!” He then noticed Fluttershy hovering beside him and asked her, “Is she always this daring?” Fluttershy replied, “No, usually she’s even more daring.” Techorse accelerated and avoided the robot’s beams as well. “Rainbow, we can’t keep zipping around like this. The robots are too good of shots with their teleporter beams. Just keep it busy while I put my plan into action.” Rainbow Dash replied, “Whatever, I’m having too much fun with this pile of scrap.” Techorse flew up to the roof of the store he was eyeballing earlier and hid behind the huge sign. He retracted his fans and sprouted the laser cannons again. Techorse pitched the guns down at took aim at the base of the sign. Then, he waited and watched as Rainbow Dash kept going in faster and faster circles around the robot. Eventually, Rainbow Dash created a rainbow-colored tornado around the robot, and it was picked up by the force and flung into the air. It landed right on the sign Techorse had intended to drop on the machine. The robot spotted the green pony and fired its beam directly at him. Techorse dodged it narrowly and shouted angrily, “Rainbow you crazy Ike! I told you to lure the robot over here, not drop it into my lap! Follow orders next time!” Rainbow laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I got this!” She got too close, however, and the robot swatted her down with its fist, embedding her in the thatch roof of the store. The machine now had them trapped. Unit 3 radioed out to Unit 1, “Unit 1, I have trapped 2 ponies and I am about to capture them. I’m sending you the location of the other five in their group.” But before the message could get through, Techorse had already cut through the sign with his lasers. The weight of the robot brought the sign and it down onto the ground, hard. Unit 3 broke into pieces as the heavy sign crumpled up around it. Unit 1 received no transmission and knew something had gone wrong. It was up to It and Unit 2 to capture all the ponies now. Techorse and Rainbow Dash were taking a look at the smashed robot. Rainbow Dash did a flip and started hovering in the air. She said excitingly, “Another one in pieces!” Techorse looked at her and scolded, “Do not show off like that. There are literally hundreds more of these. We can’t risk being teleported into the factory for fancy flying. We need to destroy these robots quickly and efficiently.” Rainbow Dash said with annoyance, “Well excuse me for having some fun saving Ponyville. You’re one grumpy pony.” Techorse sighed and continued, “I’m sorry Rainbow, just don’t take any unnecessary risks, ok?” She reluctantly agreed, “Alright, I’ll be more careful.” Noticing one of them was missing after the combat, Rainbow looked around and shouted in horror, “Wait, where did Fluttershy go? Oh no, the robot must have hit her!” Scanning the city square, Techorse noticed a straw pile in the road that was doing something odd. It was shaking. Techorse walked up to the pile of straw and used his turbofans to blow away the plant material. Inside was Fluttershy shaking like a leaf. “I’m sorry.” she said looking up at Techorse, “I’m too scared of those robots.” Techorse said, “It’s ok Fluttershy. I’m just glad you’re alright.” Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was in a full gallop attempting to find the remaining 2 robots. She tried using her magic to find the machines, but couldn’t seem to find them. Twilight called back to Applejack, “AJ, I can’t find the robots with my magic! Any clue where they might have gone?” Applejack replied, “No. As far as I can tell, those robots got minds of their own. No tellin’ where they might be.” “Although I do it less often”, added Rarity, “I might be able to find the beasts with my magic. I usually look for gems, but metals can be found too. Let me try.” Rarity’s horn glowed for a minute as she scanned the town. Rarity shouted, “Ah! There they are, behind the city hall.” Twilight panicked and said, “Oh no! They’re going to get the mayor!” The three ponies changed course and headed straight for city hall, with Pinkie Pie hopping behind them. Unit 1 used his outboard speaker to address Unit 2. “Unit 2”, the machine said, “This is the residence of the town’s leader. Let’s extract her and get out.” Unit 2 turned and rolled up to the door of the building. It then used its fist to knock down the door. Before it could roll in, however, it noticed a hard smack on its rear armor. A manhole (ponyhole?) cover had smashed into the back of the robot and taken a large chunk out of its armor, exposing its inner circuitry. The machine turned around and inspected the manhole cover. The purple glow around it faded away. There stood Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rarity. Applejack shouted, “Get away from the mayor’s house, machine!” The robots looked at eachother, then began to open fire with their teleporter beams. The ponies split up and attempted to circle around the robots. Unit 1 attempted to get a lock on Rarity first, but Applejack had plans to stop it. She picked up a section of rope from the ground and made it into a lasso. She then wrapped the loop around the machine’s laser cannon, and then tied it to the robot’s front so that it could only shoot sideways. Unit 1 started to untie the rope with its fist arm, but Rarity had already thrown a handful of sharp diamonds from her saddlebag. The gem stones cut into Unit 1’s front, exposing the computer core. Now was Twilight’s chance. She maneuvered in front of Unit 1, dodging another teleporter blast from Unit 2. She then used her magic to affect the inner core of the robot. Within a second, the core was detached from the inside of the robot and on the ground. Unit 1 was shut down. But Unit 2 still had a clear shot at Twilight Sparkle. It raised its teleporter gun and fired off the red blast. An apple tossed by Applejack intercepted the beam, and it disappeared instead. Unit 2 swung around and chased after the country pony, trying to desperately teleport out one last pony before its destruction. However, a pie flew into the open hole on its back, and the goo ruined the machine’s inner motors. The robot stopped dead in its tracks and finally self destructed to avoid capture. Pinkie Pie hopped up to Twilight Sparkle and said, “Wow! That pie really did that robot in, huh?” Techorse, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy flew in and landed next to the others. Twilight Sparkle said triumphantly, “Well, that takes care of all six robots.” The mayor of the town walked out of her front door. She was a light brown pony with a graying mane, and wore glasses to help her short sight. After gingerly kicking one of the robot’s heaps of scrap metal, she turned to Twilight Sparkle and said, “Thank you, all of you, for finally disposing of those hideous machines.” Before Twilight could say anything, Techorse replied, “yes, m’am your town is safe for now. But, we still have to go to Bossman’s factory and rescue the captured ponies.” The mayor looked at Twilight Sparkle and asked, “Who is this fellow, and is he sane?” Twilight said, “Yes mayor, he’s sane. Just go back inside and we’ll resolve this.” The mayor retreated back into her home. Twilight then turned to Techorse and said, “Look Techorse, now that we’ve beaten those machines, how do we make sure they don’t come back?” Techorse answered, “Each of Wizard’s henchman has the power to call in more robots, except for me. We’ll need to travel around and take out their teleportation pads to get rid of the robots. Each of the men is wearing a magic crystal used to power the pads. So once we’ve destroyed all the crystals, we need to take down the robot factory itself and free the captured ponies.” “And then what?” asked Applejack. Techorse turned to look at her and said, “Hopefully, Wizard will give up, turn me back into a human, and then we’ll leave. You’ll have the planet to yourself again.” As Techorse looked around for a bit, Twilight Sparkle noticed something about him and asked, “Just one more question Techorse. Why do you already have your cutie mark?” “My what?” he asked with a confused tone. Pinkie Pie barged in, “It’s the image on your flank! When a pony discovers what they love to do, they get theirs!” Techorse turned in a circle and asked, “Well, what does it look like? I can't see my own butt too well.” Rarity said, “It appears to be 3 yellow symbols that look like flattened V’s.” Techorse coughed and said, “Oh, they must be chevrons. In human culture, they show military rank. This must mean I really am just a warrior, not a friendly or smart guy at all.” Fluttershy said, “That’s not true. You used a lot of smarts dealing with those robots. Plus, you’re nice enough to not yell at me for hiding from them.” Twilight looked at him and added, “Being a war hero is what you’re good at. Doesn’t mean we like you any less.” “Thanks”, said Techorse, still unsure if there was anything good about him or not. Chapter 7 The sun was beginning to set on Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle took notice and said, “Anyway, tomorrow morning, everypony needs to meet in front of the library to start this quest. If we work quickly, we can get rid of the factory before they produce too many robots for the princess’s royal guard to handle.” Techorse said, “Then we have less than one week. The factory kicks into full production this weekend.” Applejack said with worry, “If Techorse here is tellin’ the truth, and I’m sure he is, these bad guys we’re facing are the worst we’ve ever had.” Techorse nodded, “You have never seen greater evil until you have seen what Wizard can do. As far as I can tell from Twilight’s stories of your adventures, the worst a villain has ever threatened to do is force feed you peanut butter until you can no longer talk. I’m here to say that Wizard and his minions will enslave you, wipe your memory, and sell you as slaves to the human race.” “What are we going to do about it?” asked Pinkie Pie, unsure of how to handle the new threat. “We're going to stop Wizard and save your world.” answered Techorse with a determined grin. Rainbow Dash reared up and shouted, “This is gonna be the best adventure ever! We’re gonna take it to this Wizard and make him pay!” Fluttershy sort of kicked at the ground and said, “We can’t be too careful though. This guy sounds terrible.” Rarity finally rolled her eyes and added in, “If we don’t go home to bed soon, I’m going to look terrible, Fluttershy. I need my beauty sleep.” Twilight agreed and told her friends, “Let’s all just go home and get some rest. Remember; meet out front of the library tomorrow morning.” Everypony agreed to this and began to head home. Techorse turned around for the lonely walk back to his castle. “Where are you going, mister?”, asked Twilight Sparkle. Techorse answered with another question, “What do you mean Twilight? I’m going back to my castle to sleep.” Twilight grabbed Techorse’s battle saddle and said, “I want you to spend the night at the library with me. I need to know more about your people and this Wizard we’re about to fight against.” Techorse became confused at the awkward invitation and asked, “It’s not at all strange to you that a guy your age is spending the night with you?” Twilight said, “Not at all. You can stay at the library, and no one will find it strange at all.” As they began to walk for the library he replied, “Well, it’s just that in human culture, it’s a little inappropriate.” Twilight caught his drift, then laughed and said, “You’ll be in a different room and bed silly. Besides, you’re not a human anymore. You should get used to being a pony very quickly though.” After a while, they arrived at the hollowed out tree. Techorse rushed forward opened the door for Twilight using his saddle’s robotic hands. Techorse said to her, “On my planet, we open the door for a lady and let her go through first.” Twilight said, “Thanks, but keep in mind we don’t have hands, we have hooves. Typically we just make sure to go through the door one at a time.” Techorse retracted the hands on the saddle and then walked in behind her. The tree featured bookshelves carved into the sides of the trunk. About 200 books in total were on the shelves, and a ladder on wheels was used to make them easier to access. Twilight called out, “Spike, I’m home! Where are you?” Spike popped out of a doorway at the end of the bookshelves and dropped down to the floor of the building. Techorse got a huge happy look on his face and said, “You have a pet dragon? Aw neat! On Earth, dragons are just a myth!” Spike crossed his arms and said indignantly, “Excuse me, but I am not a pet.” Techorse said cheerfully, “You talk too? Oh this planet’s great! Creatures I thought weren’t real exist here!” Twilight rolled her eyes and commented, “As if unicorns and pegasus ponies didn’t tip you off already.” Twilight turned to a small table with an inkwell and quill. She picked up the pen with magic and began to write. Spike said to her, “Anyways, I shelved all the books. Nobody came in today on the account that the town was attacked by robots. I would have handled them myself, except you made me stay here!” Twilight said, “And I’m sorry about that Spike, but I didn’t want to endanger you.” Spike uncrossed his arms, looked at the floor, and said sadly, “I know. It’s bad being a small flightless dragon with a weak fire breath.” Techorse thought about something he could say to motivate the dragon. He told him, “Hey, cheer up! When you’re older, I’m sure you’ll be able to blow up a boulder with a single fireball.” Spike lifted his head and said, “You really think so?” Techorse looked at him and replied, “I would bet so. As I stay here in Equestria, I plan on studying all the animals and plants not found on Earth including dragons like you. It’s going to be fun learning so much about life here.” Techorse extended his robotic arms from the saddle and picked up a biology book to read. Spike’s eyes grew wide in awe as he watched the robotic arms pick up the book and turn to a page. Spike asked with awe, “What is that thing giving you hands?” Techorse answered as he looked back at his machine, “Well, it’s called a battle saddle. It’s a robotic gadget-filled saddle I invented that reads my brainwaves with a special microprocessor. I can use my thoughts to control it, simply put. Right now I’m using it to pick up and read this book.” Spike sifted through the facts and said, “If you can invent things like that, you must be really smart! You like to study things and read. You’re just like Twi…” “Ooooh.”, said Spike, smiling. He continued, “Twilight, is this your coltfriend?” Twilight dropped the quill and turned to Spike. Techorse snickered at the dragon’s immaturity. Twilight said, “No Spike, he’s not my coltfriend. He’s just a friend.” Techorse asked in surprise, “Wait, I’m your friend?” Twilight replied, “Well of course you are. We’ve been friends ever since you became a pony.” Spike said worriedly, “Hold on, I’m confused. This guy wasn't always a pony?” Techorse retold the story to Spike, how he was the human who lived in the castle, and how he was turned into a pony by Wizard. Meanwhile, Twilight had gone upstairs to make the beds up. Spike took in the story and said, “At least you helped stopped those robots. I wish I could come on this adventure to stop Wizard with you, but I know Twilight won’t let me. She treats me like a baby.” Techorse put a robotic hand on his shoulder and lectured, “Look Spike, right now the best place for you is here at the library. Chances are the ponies will come out of hiding and want to read to try and forget about what just happened. I’m sure Twilight just cares a lot about your safety, that’s all.” Spike replied, “I guess so. Here she comes, Mrs. Sayno.” Twilight groaned and said, “Spike, it really is too dangerous for you to come with us.” Techorse agreed, “She’s right. Wizard’s magic powers are way too strong. He won’t go easy on you just because you are a kid. He didn’t go easy on me, and I was the youngest of the humans on the space station.” Spike crossed his arms and said, “I'm not scared of him, and you shouldn't be either! Twilight Sparkle here is the most powerful magic user in Equestria. She could beat Wizard with one hoof tied behind her back.” Twilight turned a bit red and told him, “Spike cut it out, you’re embarrassing me in front of our guest.” Techorse knelt down to look directly at Spike’s eye level and said, “Spike, I’ve got to be brutally honest with you. Twilight Sparkle’s power may be the best on the planet, but it’s nothing compared to what Wizard can do.” He stood up and looked at Twilight before telling her, “No offense Twilight, but Wizard is the most powerful magic user in the universe, and his power dwarfs yours.” Twilight said, “None taken. I can tell he’s more powerful. I’ve never seen a spell to change something into something else so permanent. Usually it wears off.” Techorse knew she was talking about his transformation, but decided to say, “That’s a drop in the bucket. When Wizard took me with him on his whirlwind tours of the galaxy, I saw him destroy a planet. It wasn’t inhabited, but he wanted to prove his power to me.” Spike then asked, “But if he could just use magic powerful enough to destroy a planet, why didn’t Wizard just make everyone on Equestria obey him?” Techorse stood back up and said, “Wizard is still afraid of other sentient beings. Humans, for example, have weapons and armies that could easily dispose of him if he was seen as a threat. He’s so deceptive, though, that he disguises his bids for power as business ventures.” Twilight asked curiously, “So, he’s not out for the money by selling us to humans?” Techorse shook his head and answered, “Wizard could summon all the money he wanted with magic. No, he wants world domination. Wizard thinks the human race on Earth is too smart and dangerous to be taken over, but he thinks your people are inferior and will be easy to control. I'm hoping we can exploit that to defeat him.” Spike said, “I’m still not sure this Wizard is more powerful than Twilight.” Techorse lost it and said with a threatening tone to him, “Ok then, give me an example of how Twilight is more powerful.” Spike closed his eyes and continued, “Twilight once picked up a 40 ton Ursa Minor and put it to sleep, then returned it to its home.” Techorse said, “Fascinating. Tell me, did Twilight sparkle move during this process?” Spike opened his eyes and said, “no.” Techorse asked another question, “Were her eyes open?” “No”, Spike said again. The green colt then looked at Twilight and asked, “Twilight, were you tired after moving said monster?” “Extremely”, said Twilight with a slight groan as she remembered the amount of energy it took. Techorse said, “Wizard can do that running at a full clip with his eyes open. He will not break a sweat doing so. His eyes were open when he destroyed that planet.” Techorse heard Spike audibly swallow. Techorse took a breath and continued, “But magic is not invincible. It is not foolproof, and it can be understood.” Twilight gave him a confused look and said, “Magic can’t be understood. It’s impossible to. You are either born with it or you are not, it comes from inside you.” Techorse shook his head and continued, “When you are a slave to Wizard for 10 years, you begin to wonder how magic actually works.” Techorse looked at Spike and said, “Remember how I said my battle saddle works?” Spike said, “Yeah! It reads your mind and does stuff based on what you think!” Techorse said, “Right. The brain produces waves of energy which move out into the surrounding world when you think. Magic is the process of using those waves to control energy and matter directly. It is a higher form of using thought to manipulate the world around you. Any human could learn it, and Wizard devoted his life to it.” Twilight was confused by this and asked, “Why can only the other unicorns and I use magic then?” Techorse explained, “These brainwaves used in magic are normally not concentrated enough by the mind to do any good. They require a focal point on the user’s body in order to be of any use. The nerve fibers running in the human arms allow the hands to be used as focal points for magic. People with lower magic abilities can make a stick filled with the nervous tissue of an animal to direct the waves.” “A magic wand?” asked Twilight. Techorse nodded, “The stick itself is not enchanted in any way. It’s just pure biology.” Twilight said, “Ok, but you still haven’t answered my question though. How come only unicorn ponies can use magic on this planet?” Techorse instructed, “Look in the mirror with me.” They walked over to the mirror in the room, and Techorse had Twilight look at herself in it. He said to her while pointing at her horn, “You were born with a natural focal point. It’s that horn on your head. Inside it is a cone of nervous fibers that directs your brain waves, your very thoughts, and uses them to influence matter and energy.” Twilight continued with her questions, “But then why do spells sometimes wear off? Why couldn’t I throw off your aim earlier today?” Techorse answered, “Because magic is based on thoughts, other creature’s thoughts can affect your magic powers. When you tried to move the gun out of my hands, I willed the gun to stay in my hands, and the brainwaves let out by that neutralized yours. Spells appear to “wear off” because you slowly forget about them and stop putting out brainwaves to keep them in effect.” Twilight stepped back and said in misery, “It's all about the mind? I thought magic was special.” Techorse comforted her, “It is. Our emotions and relationships affect our brainwaves. Each being’s waves have a unique signature that will never be copied again, even in the case of identical twins. When Wizard was trying to destroy me, you felt an emotion for me by having mercy. That caused you to fire a blast of brainwaves that interacted with Wizard’s brainwaves, and changed what would happen.” Twilight sat down and asked with awe, “Wow, Techorse. Is it really my thoughts and emotions that control my magic?” Techorse said, “Yes, but you control your thoughts and emotions. The people who surround you, who care about you, can contribute brainwaves along the same line as yours whenever you try to use magic. If you are all aligned in thought, a bunch of weak people who didn’t even know magic existed can cause a magical event.” Techorse paused for a moment and then continued, “But especially our friends and family. Anyone we love and care about can truly contribute to our thoughts. If enough friends think together to make a change, it can happen. In one sense, friendship is magic.” Techorse frowned and sighed, “I’m sorry I had to drop that on you.” Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and thought deeply. She used magic to try and pick up a quill pen in front of her. She noticed that she had to think about the pen’s existence, and what its weight was, in order to move it. She also noted how she had to pick a direction for the pen to move, and had to move it as if she had a hand holding it. She put the quill back in the well and turned to Techorse. “You’re right.” she said, “Magic is based on the thoughts of sentient creatures. I feel happy knowing that all this time, my friends were helping me to cast all those spells crucial to our survival.” Techorse nodded and said, “We’re all a part of someone else’s life. It is how we choose to think that makes all the difference.” Twilight asked, “But why can’t I change you back?” He answered with a sigh, “Wizard has become powerful enough that the effects are permanent unless he wills himself to change me back. Magic, like technology, is evil when it is based on selfish thoughts. Tomorrow we’ll see if we can start beating Wizard’s evil magic.” Twilight Sparkle looked at the floor and said, “Spike fell asleep halfway through our conversation. Right now I feel like I’m about to fall asleep too. Your bed’s ready upstairs, across from mine. Let’s just try to sleep for tomorrow’s adventure.” They both went upstairs and got into their beds. Twilight looked over at Techorse, who had taken off his saddle and put it aside as he tried to get some rest. As Twilight Sparkle fell asleep she thought, “We’re all in this together.” Aboard the space station, miles above Equestria's surface, Wizard sat at a large strategy table representing Equestria’s surface. He pounded his fist on the table and sent 6 figures of robots flying off of an area marked “Ponyville”. He then put down 7 figures of ponies on the map, and picked up the single male one. “Techman has become one of them through a magical accident.” He said to himself, “He has nothing to lose going up against me. But I know he didn’t survive my magical blast by himself.” Wizard picked up the figurine representing Twilight. Wizard said, “These creatures, the unicorn ponies, have more magical powers that I did not foresee when I studied this planet. I have underestimated them” He then crushed the figurine in his hand and said, “But no matter. They will not survive the first day of their quest.” Wizard picked up a glass of ice water and cooled his dry throat with a small sip. Putting down the glass he said, “I know they will not go through the mountains directly to get to Bossman’s factory out of fear of the dragons that might eat them. They will go through the forest first. I have a friend there who might enjoy entertaining guests.” Wizard laughed as he looked at the figurine on an area marked “Everfree Forest”. The figurine was wearing a pith helmet. Chapter 8 The team had assembled outside of the library in the morning to get ready for the trip. They had packed saddlebags full of different items to be able to make the journey. Twilight Sparkle took a look in each pony’s bag to make sure they had the supplies they needed for the trip. She stopped at Pinkie Pie’s bags. “Pinkie Pie”, she said, “why do you need to pack all these cupcakes?” Pinkie Pie smiled and said, “We need them! Sugar is good for speed and activity. We’re gonna be doing a lot of running, I can tell.” Twilight rolled her eyes and searched Rarity’s bags next. “Ok”, said Twilight, “I see you brought some candles and matches for light, but why is the other side’s bag empty?” Rarity answered, “I thought I might collect a few gemstones on the way. I need them for a dress I’ve been working on for a while now.” Twilight then announced, “Ok, look. We need real supplies if we’re going to be going up against these evil aliens.” Techorse coughed. Twilight then corrected herself and said, “I’m sorry, I meant to say these humans.” After a short pause she resumed giving her instructions, “We need to pack helpful items, and only what is necessary so that we don’t get slowed down with useless things. We won’t be able to make it across the mountains to the factory otherwise.” Techorse interrupted, “Wait a minute Twilight. You never said we were going to assault Bossman’s factory first thing.” Twilight looked at Techorse with a confused look and asked, “How are we going to stop the robots otherwise?” Techorse replied, “There are still 6 other humans besides Wizard walking around capturing your people for their own entertainment. They don’t need the robots to be dangerous, so we need to stop them first.” Fluttershy tried to be helpful by adding, “There are also dragons living in the mountains between us and that factory.” Applejack added in, “Well then, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. It seems like we’ll have to lay out these bad guys one at a time as we go ‘round the mountains. But how are we supposed to know where they are?” Rainbow Dash agreed and said, “Applejack’s right. We have no idea where these guys are or how to stop them. They could be anywhere in Equestria.” Just then, Spike came running out with a scroll in his hand, “This just came in from princess Celestia! Based on how hard I spat it out, it must be important!” Twilight picked up the scroll and opened it with her magic. Twilight read out loud, “Dear Twilight Sparkle, This is the captain of princess Celestia’s royal guard. We have learned from fleeing Pegasus ponies entering Canterlot that multiple areas of Equestria are under attack by machines with weird devices that make ponies disappear. We have locked down the castle to protect the princesses, and reinforced the city walls. Lately, one Pegasus reported a strange monster carrying a similar tool to the ones found on the machines lurking in the Everfree forest. Take caution when going through that area, and report to Canterlot as soon as possible. The princess needs to see you. Signed, Captain Arbiter. ” Techorse said with a worried look, “It looks like the factory is already beginning to produce robots.” Twilight replied, “Unfortunately, yes. But we do have one piece of information that’s important to us.” Rainbow Dash asked curiously, “What’s that?” Twilight continued, “We know one of the humans is hiding in the Everfree forest for some reason.” Fluttershy said, “The forest? It’s too dangerous there. I don’t even think a human would be brave enough to go in alone.” Techorse asked, “I saw the forest, but why is it dangerous? Giant carnivorous plants or something?” Rarity explained, “The forest is untamed and rather dirty. The animals take care of themselves, the plants go uncut, and the weather changes by itself.” Techorse asked, “And that makes it scary to you?” Everypony nodded. Techorse fell over laughing. He managed to get out between the chuckling, “That’s funny! On Earth, every forest is like that. Animals care for themselves because that’s nature, and plants grow when they need to. You guys are funny.” Fluttershy got close to Techorse and said in his face, “You don’t understand. The forest is home to many dangerous creatures because most ponies can't tame them.” Applejack said, “Either way fellas, one of those humans is in it takin’ our friends. We have to put an end to it.” Twilight Sparkle took a map out of her saddlebags and unrolled it. The ponies gathered around to view the map. She told them, “Here is a map of Equestria’s surface. We’re here in Ponyville, which is flanked by the forest and the mountain range. Since we can’t pass the mountains directly without encountering hostile creatures, we’ll have to go around them. If we go through the Everfree forest here, and cross the plains and desert, we can reach Canterlot. From there, we can head straight for the factory through a pass in the mountains here. We have plenty of places to stay along the way, so we won’t have to carry these supplies.” Pinkie Pie then jumped up and said, “Let’s get started! The sooner we finish, the sooner we can celebrate.” Rainbow Dash put on a determined look and added, “Ok, let’s go get that guy in the forest. I can’t wait to make him regret coming here.” Twilight said, “Ok girls, calm down. We’ll head over to Fluttershy’s house so that we can get the farthest into the forest the fastest.” Realizing the awkward flow of the words, she said, “Ugh, try saying that 3 times fast.” Pinkie Pie sprung on the opportunity, “Ok! Farthest into the forest fastest.” A robotic hand from Techorse’s saddle shut Pinkie Pie’s mouth. “I like your enthusiasm, Pinkie Pie, but we don’t want you twisting your tongue right now.” he said. Rainbow Dash scooted up next to Techorse and remarked, “I like how you deal with Pinkie Pie’s craziness.” She then noticed that everyone staring at her and giving a weird look. So she backed off a little, and said, “Uh, and y’know, you’re good at handling things like that.” Techorse drew the robotic hand back into his saddle and replied, “Thanks Rainbow. You’re a good friend.” Twilight Sparkle shook her head and said, “Ok ponies, we need to head for the forest now. Just forget about the bags, and let’s go.” The others began to walk off towards the forest, with Techorse and Applejack at the back of the pack. Techorse whispered to Applejack, “Did Rainbow Dash just hit on me?” Applejack nodded and said, “I’m not sure, Techorse, Rainbow Dash probably just appreciates your help in keeping Pinkie calm! For that, she thinks you’re as sweet as a pitcher of sugar tea.” He replied, “Nice analogy. Thanks Applejack.” As they walked away, three young female ponies were watching them from inside a bush. In the middle was a light yellow pony with red hair and a huge pink bow on her head. To her left was an orange pegasus with purple hair. The one on her right was a unicorn with a white coat and pink and purple swirled hair. The three sat discussing what they had just heard. The orange one spoke up, “Apple Bloom, did you hear that? Rainbow Dash is going on another adventure along with your guys’ sisters!” Apple Bloom replied, “Yeah, Scootaloo, I heard. Applejack’s going away again to save the day leavin’ me stuck at the farm.” The third one, Sweetie Belle, spoke up, “Rarity’s leaving too ya know. I’m not going to have any fun sitting around here either.” Scootaloo flicked her hair out of her eyes and said, “Hey, I have an idea. The older ponies were talking about saving the world by shutting down a… what did they call it?” Apple Bloom finished by saying, “They called it a factory. Don’t know what that is at all. But it sounds like shuttin’ it down will save Equestria.” Sweetie Belle added excitedly, “And maybe it will earn us our cutie marks!” The three youngsters did not have their cutie marks yet, and as such their flanks bore no symbol like the other ponies. Most ponies at their age had already developed their mark by learning what their special talent or skill was. But these three became friends when they realized they were the only ones left in town without marks. They were determined to earn them, even at the risk of making terrible decisions, which they made surprisingly often. Scootaloo happily replied, “That’s a great idea! We’ll find out what our special talents are by helping Rainbow Dash save Equestria!” Apple Bloom said, “Hey! Don’t forget Applejack and the rest of the gang is going too, along with that new guy.” Sweetie Belle asked, “Yeah, I noticed that new guy. The green one. Who is that colt?” Scootaloo answered, “I don’t know. But Rainbow Dash likes him, and that’s all that matters.” Apple Bloom said, “Well girls, we know what we gotta do. Follow the older ponies and help save Equestria. For we are…” They all shouted at once, “The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” Then the youngsters sped off to try to catch up with the older ponies. The seven friends had reached Fluttershy’s cottage outside of the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy was talking to a rabbit on the ground. “Now Angel”, she said softly, “You’re in charge while I’m gone. Take care of the others, ok?” The rabbit nodded its head and hopped back inside the house. Techorse said in amazement to Fluttershy, “That’s really neat that you can talk with animals.” “Oh yes.” replied Fluttershy, “They love it when I talk to them nicely. I’m really good with creatures.” Twilight added, “It really comes in handy inside the forest where many wild creatures won’t normally listen to ponies like us. If she can’t get them to listen normally, she can also stare them down.” Fluttershy said, “I really don’t like to use that.” Rainbow Dash was getting impatient and said, “Yes, we know Fluttershy can talk to animals. Can we please go in the forest now and find this human? Besides, if any monsters come along, Techorse can zap ‘em with his laser cannons!” Techorse said, “Thanks, Rainbow Dash. But I don’t like to use weapons unless it’s an emergency or all peaceful efforts have failed. Responsibility with harmful lasers is important.” “Whatever”, came her reply as she flipped her tail in Techorse’s face. Twilight said, “Ok then. We’re ready to go into the forest. Any recommended directions, Techorse?” He said in a rather annoyed tone, “Don’t look at me, you have the map.” She replied, “I meant where you thought the guy was in the forest.” Applejack said, “Twilight, Techorse doesn’t know which of the humans is in the forest. It could be any one of ‘em.” Techorse corrected, “Actually, that’s not entirely true. I can make a guess based on what I know about the guys who came with us on this mission. One of them is a famous game hunter. He’s probably the one in the forest trying to hunt the dangerous creatures you’ve been talking about.” Fluttershy said, “Those creatures don’t make very good pets. Why would he want to hunt for them?” Techorse replied without thinking, “Humans don’t eat just plants. We eat meat too. This guy might be going for meat or hunting trophies.” Fluttershy gasped and said shakily, “You mean you, you..” He finished the sentence, “Eat animals? Some humans do. I used to myself, but I won’t anymore after this, I guarantee it. Being a pony has curbed my taste for meat altogether.” Techorse watched with a sad look as Fluttershy fainted. Twilight said in dismay, “Oh, poor Fluttershy. She loves animals too much. You shouldn’t have mentioned humans eat animals Techorse.” Pinkie Pie said, “I’ll get her up! I just need a bucket of water!” She ran away from the group and returned with a bucket, then dumped it over Fluttershy’s head. The yellow Pegasus remained motionless on the ground. Twilight continued, “Ok, we’ll go into the forest as soon as she comes around.” Rarity said, “Maybe if we elevate her up a bit, she’ll get up. I’m not touching her though, she’s all wet, and I don’t want to get wet too.” Techorse extended the robot arms out of his saddle and picked up Fluttershy’s back, trying to bring blood back into her head. She opened her eyes and looked at Techorse. “Please tell me we’re not going in there after that monster.” She said sadly, looking at Techorse. Applejack said, “I’m afraid we have no choice, sugarcube.” Fluttershy fainted again. Chapter 9 They decided to venture into the forest by draping the unconscious Fluttershy over Techorse’s back. “Luckily”, said Techorse grunting under the weight, “This saddle can hold her.” Twilight looked back at Techorse and said, “Keep your eyes on the trees if you can. You never know what might come out of them.” Rainbow Dash, hovering above the team, swung her front hooves around like fists and said, “If some animal tries something funny, they’ll have to go through me first.” Rarity began complaining about the forest dirt getting into her hooves. “This mud isn’t going to be good for me.”, she said trying to avoid wet ground. Pinkie Pie was, as is typical for her, talking at a mile a minute about the various things she could see in the forest. “Ooh squirrel! Look at how tall that tree is! Do you think I could swing from these vines?” Twilight said to Applejack, “Think we can walk far enough into the forest before it gets dark?” Applejack replied, “If Fluttershy wakes up, we can trot at a faster pace. But her weight is slowing Techorse and all of us down.” Techorse was using his turbofans to create a gentle breeze in Fluttershy’s face, hoping the cool air would help her to regain consciousness. The path through the forest ended at a pile of rocks, much sooner than the team had hoped for. “Great”, Twilight said with frustration, “the path disappears here. If we try to find it again, we’ll get lost.” Rainbow Dash took off vertically for a few moments, had a look around, and then landed again. Rainbow told Twilight, “The path starts up again if we just head this way. I’ll stay up here in the air so we don’t get lost.” They walked past a small lake in the middle of the forest, and a large group of shrubs and trees, before finding the path again. For once, one of Rainbow Dash’s shortcuts had actually saved them time. While on the path again, Techorse started to notice that his back was feeling a lot lighter than before. He thought, “That’s funny. I could have sworn Fluttershy was a little heavier a while ago.” He then looked back and in horror, noticed Fluttershy was gone! “Oh no!” he shouted, “Fluttershy must have fallen off my back. We need to go back for her.” Twilight got worried and replied, “Ok, let’s retrace our steps. She couldn’t have fallen very far back.” “I’m right here”, replied a soft voice behind Twilight. Twilight turned to notice Fluttershy awake and standing next to her. “Fluttershy!” she said, “Thank goodness you just woke up. We thought you had fallen off Techorse’s back and got left behind.” Fluttershy said, “Actually, I woke up about 10 minutes ago.” Applejack angrily yelled at her, “Then why in tarnation didn’t you say something?” Fluttershy looked down and dragged her hoof in the dirt, “I didn’t think anypony cared.” Rainbow Dash groaned and said, “C’mon Fluttershy. You’re slowing us down.” Twilight gave her a cross look and said, “Rainbow Dash, knock it off! Fluttershy is very sensitive. It’s not her fault she couldn’t handle the truth about the humans.” Techorse turned his head a bit to the side and said, “Yeah, I’m sorry Fluttershy. I should have been a little bit more careful about your feelings.” “It’s all right.” replied Fluttershy with a weak smile. Twilight Sparkle urged the team on in order to save time. The group continued with their walk deeper into the forest in search of Wizard’s minion. Scanning the terrain ahead, Techorse began to wonder what sorts of dangerous creatures might actually live in the forest. After all, the other ponies seemed to know what they were talking about when they mentioned how dangerous the forest was. Up ahead, Techorse noticed a strange animal hiding halfway into a log. It was a lizard’s body by its scaly green look. Rarity spotted the creature herself and asked, “What is that hideous thing in that log?” The creature emerged from the log and turned to face the group. It had a lizard’s body, but the head of a rooster. “Cockatrice!” cried out Twilight Sparkle, “Don’t look into its eyes!” Techorse said, “I’ve played enough Nethack to know what that thing does!” “Get down or we’ll be turned to stone!” cried Rainbow Dash, shutting her eyes. “It won’t get a chance to!” yelled Techorse, extending his turbofans from his saddle. He immediately took off and boosted forward in the direction of the cockatrice. The beast had foolishly decided to try and petrify Pinkie Pie first, who was gazing off into space instead of cowering like the others. Techorse flew straight for the monster, closing his eyes when he got within 10 feet. The cockatrice then turned to stare at the threat, but it was far too late. Techorse felt lizard scales touch his hooves. He then punched the cockatrice in the body, knocking the wind out of the creature. His next blow was a downward hit on its head, forcing it to shut its eyes and stop trying to use its gaze attack. Although he couldn’t see, Techorse correctly estimated the space between him and the monster and landed a third blow in the form of a roundhouse punch across the cockatrice’s shoulder. This put enough spin and momentum on the cockatrice that it went flying over the tops of the trees with a loud cry and disappeared behind them. When Techorse touched down on solid ground, he opened his eyes. The adrenaline began to seep out of his cardiovascular system, and now came the cold of getting over the fight or flight response. He breathed heavily and looked back at his friends. Techorse panted, “You can open your eyes now. Somehow I managed to beat it.” Fluttershy started to do something she rarely does, scold. She had kept her eyes open and had watched Techorse assault the creature. “Why did you have to beat that poor thing, Techorse?” asked Fluttershy in a harsh tone. “Hey!” said Rainbow Dash angrily, “Techorse just saved us from becoming lawn ornaments, and this is how you repay him?” Twilight said, “Calm down girls, Techorse only did what he thought was best for our safety.” Fluttershy didn’t listen and said, “Well I could have tamed it and shooed it away easily. I did it before.” Rainbow Dash continued her backtalk, “He just beat the stuffings out of a monster in an awesome way. I know you can talk to animals, but this one would have gotten us for sure without Techorse!” Techorse said with a depressed tone, “Well, Rainbow Dash, I appreciate you thinking that was awesome. But Fluttershy is right. I assumed the creature would be dangerous without giving it a chance. I’m just a violent, stupid male I guess.” Techorse looked very sad about what he did. Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder and said, “I don’t think you are stupid or violent. You did what you had to do. What do you think, Pinkie Pie?” Looking around, Twilight asked, “Wait? Where is Pinkie Pie?” The rays of the afternoon sun revealed her next to a tree. She had been turned to stone by the cockatrice. “No!” shouted Rainbow Dash in dismay. Twilight Sparkle said sadly, “Oh Pinkie Pie, you just had to get distracted at a crucial moment.” Rarity weeped, “She's gone, and she was the happiest of us all. Why couldn’t it have been Applejack instead?” Applejack glared at Rarity, hoping for her sake that was only a joke. Fluttershy looked up angrily at Techorse and said, “Now hang on. I’m going to go find that cockatrice and have it change her back. I’ll use the stare again if I need too.” Everyone but Techorse and Fluttershy gasped. Techorse asked, “Is this that stare that tames animals?” “Yes”, replied Fluttershy, “but I’m not using it until you’ve apologized to the animal.” Rainbow Dash protested, “That thing doesn’t deserve an apology after what it did to Pinkie Pie!” Techorse turned to Rainbow and said, “Fluttershy is right. The only way to get the cockatrice to change back Pinkie Pie is either through more violence or by apology. I don’t want to be a violent person or pony anymore. I’ll go with you Fluttershy.” Twilight said, “I saw you hit the cockatrice over that tree over there. It’s too heavy to have gone that far.” Fluttershy and Techorse left to go find the cockatrice. Rarity took a look at Pinkie Pie’s statue. The scream on Pinkie Pie’s face indicated her last few moments of horror before being petrified. “I sure hope they can convince that monster to change her back. Despite how annoying she is from time to time, I do love her company.” said Rarity. The others nodded their heads solemnly. Techorse and Fluttershy were walking into the dense tree formations in search of the cockatrice. Fluttershy wouldn’t speak with Techorse no matter how hard he tried to talk to her because she was still steamed about his violence. Finally, they found the creature lying up against a tree. It was scared and rocking around, trying to recover from Techorse’s blows, which had left nasty welts on its body. It looked up, and seeing Techorse, hid behind the tree. The beast was too scared to try its gaze attack after the colt’s painful display of power. “Come on out.” called Fluttershy softly, “I’m here to help you.” Techorse asked, “Can you tell it I’m not going to hurt it?” “No, I really want you to tell it that. It can understand you too.”, replied Fluttershy. He said to the monster, “Hey, I’m sorry I beat you up. I thought you were trying to turn us all to stone. In the confusion, you managed to catch one of us with your gaze attack. I need your help turning her back.” As was expected, the cockatrice refused to come out from behind the tree. “I will not disappoint Fluttershy or the others by threatening this creature.” thought Techorse, trying to calm down. Fluttershy said gently, “He’s really a nice guy, and just got a little confused. He doesn’t want to hurt you again, I’m sure. Please come with us and change our friend back.” The cockatrice finally went around the tree and looked up at Fluttershy. “See?” said Fluttershy, “the cockatrice’s gaze only turns you to stone when it’s scared or mad. You must have scared it by attacking it, and then it got Pinkie Pie. It’s harmless if it’s friendly or you are.” Techorse looked at the half chicken, half lizard creature and said, “I’m sorry I did that to you. Can we call it even if you change our friend back?” The creature looked at Techorse, nodded, and then began walking with the two ponies back to Pinkie Pie’s statue. When they got back, the other ponies were hiding behind objects trying to avoid the cockatrice’s eyes. Fluttershy said, “It’s ok, it’s not going to use its gaze on you.” The cockatrice moved up to Pinkie Pie’s statue, and then touched its forehead to hers. The statue began to crumble. With a flash of light, Pinkie Pie was back to her old self again. Immediately she screamed and fell over on the pile of rubble. Then looking up with a confused expression she asked, “Woah, what happened to me. My head’s all spinny!” The cockatrice then turned around and retreated back into the woods. Pinkie Pie said, “Well, glad that’s over! What’s next?” The team had already started hugging the pink pony, glad she was alive. “Wow”, she said, “I didn’t know you guys missed me so much!” The seven ponies found a campsite that marked the halfway point through the forest. It was getting late, and soon it was time for bed. There were two log cabins with four beds in each, so they split up and headed into the buildings to get ready for tomorrow. Twilight Sparkle, Techorse, Rarity, and Fluttershy decided to share 1 cabin. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were in the other. As the ponies got into their bunks, Techorse got up and decided to go outside. “Where are you going?” asked Twilight. He replied, “I’m not tired yet. I’m just going to go walk around for a little while.” Techorse left the building and sat down next to the campfire. He looked up at the stars and noticed the space station overhead. The small dot in the sky was blinking its eerie red. Techorse said in a menacing tone, “Yeah Wizard, you know I’m here. But you’re too proud to take us on yourself. We’re going to take advantage of that pride. You can’t hide in that space station forever.” As Techorse let his thoughts wander about Wizard and how he was going to defeat him, he heard the girls’ exchanging juicy gossip inside the cabins. He quietly went behind Applejack’s cabin and listened in. He heard Pinkie Pie say, “What do you think of Techorse so far, girls? Do you like having a guy on our team?” Applejack replied, “I don’t know. I mean, the guy’s trying not to be a big mean stallion. He just wants to be forgiven for invadin’ Ponyville.” Rainbow Dash said, “I think he’s great! He’s super strong, fights monsters, and builds all these cool gadgets. Of course, he’s not as fast as me, but he’s still super cool!” “Why Rainbow Dash”, teased Applejack, “I do think you have a little crush on the guy.” Rainbow Dash protested, “No I don’t! Maybe he’s a great fighter, but he’s still an ugly alien, right?” “I don’t think so”, said Pinkie Pie, “he might have been weird, but he’s a pony now! He’s much better as a pony than a human!” Applejack’s tone became a little sad as she broke the truth, “Pinkie Pie, as much as I like you bein’ nice to the guy, he’s not a pony. He probably wants to be a human again when this is over. He might in the end just go back to Earth and forget about us. Anyways, we need sleep for tomorrow. Go to bed.” “Alrighty Applejack. Goodnight”, replied Pinkie Pie. Techorse’s heart sank. He thought, “Inside, am I still bad? I’ve changed a bit, haven’t I?” He then decided to eavesdrop on the other cabin to see what the others were saying. As he feared, they were also talking about him. “I swear that Techorse fellow is trying to take over our team! That stupid boy attacked that dangerous creature head on, instead of waiting for your instructions, Twilight.” said Rarity. Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement and said, “Twilight, you are our leader, not Techorse. Show him who’s the boss, and don’t let him be mean to any more animals.” “Girls”, assured Twilight Sparkle, “I don’t think he’s trying to replace me as leader. Yes, he’s as smart as me, and he likes to do some of the things I do, but he doesn’t see himself as our leader. He just wants to stop the man who ruined his life all those years ago.” Rarity pouted and said, “Well Twilight, you may be right, but he is a stallion. Stallions always think they’re better than mares.” Twilight protested, “That’s not true Rarity. I don’t know why you two are picking on him. He’s really a nice guy at heart; I know that because I met him before he became a pony. If he thought he was right in beating up the cockatrice, Fluttershy, why did he help you find it and apologize? A stubborn or mean stallion would not even consider his actions wrong for a second. But Techorse felt bad and helped you out.” Rarity considered Twilight’s motives in defending her friend and asked, “Ooh, do you happen to be in love with him? Is that why you’re defending him?” Twilight denied, “No. I am not in love with him. We may have a few things in common, but he’s a good friend, and that’s it.” Fluttershy said, “Ok, but I still think he might be a little bad. He is a violent colt.” Techorse knew he had enough verbal abuse from the gossipers. He waited until they were finished talking, and then, after a minute of silence, entered the cabin. He tried not to show anything on his expression that would indicate he had been eavesdropping. As he got into his bunk, Twilight asked him, “So, how was your walk?” “It was great.” replied Techorse with very little emotion. Techorse decided to use what he had heard against Rarity and Fluttershy. He waited a short while and then said, “You know, Twilight, I’m glad you are leading this quest, and not me, especially after my less than honorable behavior today. Man, I’d hate to have to be the leader just because I’m a guy.” He continued with a sad tone, “Back on Earth, boys are kind of expected to be mean and rude. But here, I’m glad to have friends who are girls and are able to see beyond gender.” He looked at Fluttershy, “I’m glad I don’t have to be a violent guy anymore either. I really regret attacking that cockatrice without thinking about it.” Shifting his eyes to Rarity, he said, “I’m also happy that I finally have friends. This planet’s culture is so loving and understanding; it makes me feel great to be here.” Techorse gave a sigh in happiness and said,” Well, I’m going to sleep. Goodnight Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy.” Techorse rolled over and pretended to sleep. “I really meant everything I said.” He thought as he closed his eyes, “but hopefully my choice of words will change those two’s minds about me.” Techorse smiled as he heard Twilight whisper to the others, “I told you.”